The best-selling video game The Last of Us is finally coming to screens as a HBO series, so who should play the lead character, Joel? Joel presents actors with the exciting opportunity to play a gruff, traumatized smuggler who is trying to survive in a post-Apocalyptic America. Dodging human enemies as well as infected fungal mutants - themselves based on real-life fungal parasites - Joel is tasked with protecting a young girl named Ellie, who appears to be immune to the virus. Having lost his own young daughter years prior, Joel is given a chance at redemption.
Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) will be the showrunner, working alongside The Last of Us writer/creative director Neil Druckmann, who was recently outspoken about the game being turned into a movie. It’s currently unclear whether The Last of Us is going to be an ongoing multi-season endeavor or a one-off television event in the vein of fellow HBO adaptation Watchmen, which was only recently announced as remaining a limited series.
The lead roles of Joel and Ellie provide a unique opportunity for an actor to sink his teeth into a multi-faceted role. The Last of Us on HBO is said to be covering the first game with elements of the second, upcoming chapter potentially included. The first game covered themes like grief, redemption, the fall of society, and impossible choices in the face of adversity, wrapped up in thrilling action-horror sequences not unlike those in The Walking Dead. Fans are equally awaiting the second installment of the game series, and as an added bonus we now have the news of this HBO adaptation. So who should anchor a series like this with a lead character like Joel?
Misha Collins
Misha Collins has played fan-favorite angel Castiel on Supernatural since 2008. At the beginning of his lengthy run as the character, Collins decided on a gravelly voice for the character, something he now regrets, as it’s been twelve years and his character is still on the show, still requiring that gravelly voice. That said, his low, gravelly growl would be perfect for Joel in The Last of Us.
Collins has an established, recorded history of being able to blend intensity, gravitas, and charm into a character who struggles with longing and loss. With Supernatural coming to an end with Season 15 in 2020, Misha Collins could do with a new TV show to settle into. What better than another genre show like The Last of Us, where he can play first lead as opposed to second-string to the Winchesters? For an added bonus, it’s likely Supernatural’s diehard fanbase would follow him to his new home on HBO.
Oscar Isaac
A glimpse at Oscar Isaac with a beard in Inside Llewyn Davis could be enough to convince you that the Guatemalan-born actor is a solid choice for the role of Joel in The Last of Us. Now that his role as Poe Dameron in Disney’s Star Wars trilogy has come to a close, Isaac too could be looking for his next big genre role. With Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker leaving a bad taste in the mouth of some fans, Isaac himself might be very willing to wipe away the memory of his involvement with it. After all, although he wasn’t surprised by the reaction to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, he was hurt by it, joking that there may have been some “crying in the shower.” What better mouthwash than what would most likely be a hard-hitting performance in The Last of Us?
Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck, finally free of his Batman-related commitments, will next be seen in harrowing redemptive drama The Way Back. The film follows a man battling his demons, struggling with alcohol, who gets another shot at life when he’s asked to coach his old high school basketball team. The film is obviously immensely personal to Affleck, who has struggled with alcoholism in real life. His ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, even had to keep the film on track while Affleck was in rehab.
In a recent interview with Jake Hamilton, Affleck stated that the only roles he’s interested in right now are ones like Jack in The Way Back. Is Joel in The Last of Us too far removed? The themes of loss, grief, and despondency are all over the character. With Affleck embracing the darker sides of his personality (and talent) in his later years, Joel could be a role he inhabits well. He can even grow the requisite beard.
The only question is whether he’d be game to stick around for multiple seasons, which is unlikely. Were HBO’s The Last of Us assured to be a limited series, it’s possible Ben Affleck could be very interested in the lead role of Joel.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s career is skyrocketing at the moment, which arguably began with a well-regarded turn as villain Black Manta in Aquaman. Continuing his comic book credentials, his character in HBO’s Watchmen ended up being Doctor Manhattan himself. His bona fides will continue on with a starring role rumored to be the young Morpheus in The Matrix 4 and the lead in the Jordan Peele-produced Candyman reboot.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s star is rising, he has what looks to be a pretty busy docket, and he has the added bonus of an existing working relationship with HBO. Though Joel is Caucasian in the game series, studios have changed a character’s race before. Joel’s guilt over the loss of his daughter is more important to the character (and the story) than the color of his skin, which means a charismatic, talented actor like Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (or any number of other non-white actors) could be rightfully selected for the role.
Travis Fimmel
Free of his commitment to the History Channel’s fan-favorite swords-and-sandals show Vikings having left the show in Season 4, the intense young Australian actor has currently completed filming on no less than four feature films and a new TV series. Fimmel currently has the open space on his schedule to take on another role in a big-budget video game adaptation. He has, after all, already proved his pedigree with an appearance in Duncan Jones’ unfairly maligned Warcraft movie back in 2015. Plus, we all know he can grow a great beard - perfect for Joel in The Last of Us. Some fans may accuse Fimmel of being too young for the role, but the actor is actually 40 years old, making him age-appropriate.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
One look at Jaime Lannister - played by Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - with his beard in Season 3 of Game of Thrones should be enough to persuade anybody that he can inhabit the role of Joel in The Last of Us. That’s not even to mention the man’s extremely natural acting talent. A glimpse at the bathtub-breakdown scene in season 3, episode 5 “Kissed by Fire” of Game of Thrones is an excellent example of Coster-Waldau’s ability to convey grief and years of pain in one brief monologue, as Jaime explains the altruistic true story behind his cruel “Kingslayer” nickname. Lannister’s journey from self-serving villain to outright hero (ignore that badly-written ending) was well-painted by Coster-Waldau and shows the actor’s willingness to undertake a multi-season arc. For more evidence of Coster-Waldau’s ability to portray such an intense, captivating role, check out the harrowing Danish thriller A Second Chance (2014), where he plays a police officer who replaces his own lost baby with the at-risk child of a pair of drug addicts.
Joel in The Last of Us starts as a man haunted by grief whose only motivation is staying alive. The way he develops over the course of the game as a father figure to Ellie eventually leads him to redemption. It’s an arc Nikolaj Coster-Waldau would be perfect for.
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